1 And when I had finished speaking these words, the messenger who had been sent to me the nights before was sent to me.
2 And he said to me, “Rise, Ezra, and hear the words that I have come to tell you.”
3 And I said, “Speak on, my master.” Then he said to me, “The sea is put in a wide place, that it might be deep and great.
4 “But if it were that the entrance were narrow, and like a river;
5 who then could go into the sea to look upon it, and to navigate it? If he did not go through the narrow, how could he come into the wide?
6 “There is also another example: a city is built, and put on a broad field, and is filled with all good.
7 “Its entrance is narrow, and is put in a dangerous place to fall, so there is a fire on the right hand, and a deep moat on the left,
8 and only one path between them both, even between the fire and the water, so narrow that only one man could go through at once.
9 “If this city now were given to a man as an inheritance, if he should never pass the danger placed before it, how shall he receive this inheritance?”
10 And I said, “It is so, master.” Then he said to me, “So also is Yisra’ĕl’s portion.
11 “Because for their sakes I made the world; and when Aḏam transgressed My Laws, then what is now done was established.
12 “Then the entrances of this world were made narrow, full of sorrow and hardship. They are but few and evil, full of dangers, and very laboursome.
13 “For the entrances of the greater world were wide and sure, and brought forth incorruptible fruit.
14 “If then those who live do not strive to go through these distresses and futilities, they shall never receive that which is laid up for them.
15 “Now therefore why do you worry yourself, seeing you are but a corruptible man? And why are you disturbed, for you are only mortal?
16 “Why have you not considered in your heart that which is to come, rather than that which is present?”
17 Then I answered and said, “O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 who reigns, You have ordained in Your Law, that the righteous should inherit these, but that the wicked should perish.
18 “Nevertheless the righteous shall suffer distresses, but have expectancy for the expanse; yet those who have done wickedly have suffered distresses, but shall not see the expanse.”
19 And he said to me. “There is no judge above Elohim, and none that has understanding above the Most High.
20 “For there are many who perish in this life, because they despise the Law of Elohim that is put before them.
21 “For Elohim has given a strict Command to those who came, what they should do to live, even as they came, and what they should observe to avoid punishment.
22 “Nevertheless they were not obedient to Him; but spoke against Him, and plotted in vain;
23 and deceived themselves by their wicked deeds; and said of the Most High, that He did not exist; and did not know His ways.
24 “But they have despised His Torah, and denied His Covenants; they have not been trustworthy in His Laws, and have not performed His works.
25 “And therefore, Ezra, emptiness is for the empty, and fullness is for the full.
26 “See, the time shall come, that these signs which I have told you shall come to pass, and the bride shall appear, and her coming forth shall be seen, which now is withheld from the earth.
27 “And whoever is delivered from the evils spoken of shall see My wonders.
28 “For My Bĕn 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤔𐤏 shall be revealed with those who are with Him, and those who remain shall rejoice within four hundred years.
29 “After these years Ha’Mashiaḥ My Bĕn shall die, and all men who have life.
30 “And the world shall be turned into the silence of old seven days, as in the former judgments; so that no one remains.
31 “And after seven days, the world that is not yet awake, shall be raised up, and that which is corrupt shall die,
32 and the earth shall restore those who are asleep within, and the dust and the secret places shall deliver those who dwell in silence, and those beings who were given to them.
33 “And the Most High shall appear upon the seat of judgment, and anguish shall pass away, and patience shall come to an end.
34 “But only judgment shall remain, truth shall stand, and belief shall grow strong.
35 And the works shall follow, and the rewards be revealed, and the good deeds shall be firm, and wicked deeds shall not reign.
36 “The pit of torture shall appear, and opposite shall be the place of rest; and the furnace of Gĕy-Hinnom shall be uncovered and the paradise of delight opposite.
37 “Then the Most High shall say to the nations that have been raised from the dead, ‘See, and know whom you have denied, whom you have not served, whose Commands you have despised.
38 ‘Look on this side and that; here is delight and rest, and there are fire and torture.’ So He shall speak to them on the day of judgment;
39 a day that has no sun or moon or stars,
40 or cloud or thunder or lightning, or wind or water or air, or darkness or evening or morning,
41 or summer or spring or heat, or winter or frost or cold, or hail or rain or dew,
42 or noon or night, or dawn or shining or bright light, but only the splendour of the esteem of the Most High, by which all shall see what has been appointed.
43 “It shall last as if for a week of years.
44 “This is My judgment and its appointed order; and to you alone have I shown these.”
45 And I answered and said, “O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 who reigns, I said then and say now: Baruḵ are those who are alive and guard Your Commandments!
46 “But what of those for whom I prayed? For who among the living have not sinned, or who is there among mortal man that has not transgressed Your Covenant?
47 “And now I see that the world to come shall bring delight to few, but torture to many.
48 “For an evil heart has grown up within us which has separated us from Elohim, and has brought us into corruption and the ways of death, and has shown us the paths of destruction and removed us far from ḥai; and not only for a few, but for almost all who have been created.”
49 And he answered me and said, “Listen to me Ezra, and I will teach you, and shall admonish you once more.
50 “For this reason the Most High has not made one world, but two.
51 “Because you have said that the righteous are few, while the wicked are many; hear the explanation for this.
52 If you have only a few precious stones, would you add lead and clay to them?
53 And I said, “Aḏonai, how could this be?”
54 And He said to me, “Not only this, but ask the earth and it shall tell you; submit to it and it shall declare to you;
55 and say to it, ‘You produce gold and silver and copper, and also iron and lead and clay;
56 but silver is more plentiful that gold, and copper than silver, and iron than copper, and lead than iron, and clay than lead.’
57 “So judge which is more precious and desirable, that which is plentiful or that which is rare?”
58 And I said, “O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 who reigns, what is plentiful is of less value, for what is rare is more precious.”
59 And He answered me and said, “Consider within yourself what you have thought, for the one who has what is hard to obtain rejoices more than the one who has what is plentiful.
60 “So also shall be the judgement that I have promised; for I shall rejoice over the few who are saved, because it is they who have made My esteem prevail, and through them My Name has been esteemed.
61 “I shall not grieve over the great number of those who perish; for they are like mist, and are similar to a flame and smoke – they are lit on fire and burn with heat, and are extinguished.”
62 And I replied and said, “O earth, what have you brought forth, if the mind is made out of dust like the other creations?
63 “For it would have been better if the dust itself had not been brought forth, so that the mind might not have been made from it.
64 “But now the mind grows with us, and therefore we are tortured, because we perish and we know it.
65 “Let mankind lament, but let the beasts of the field be glad; let all who have been born lament, but let the cattle and flocks rejoice.
66 “It is much better for them than for us; for they do not look to a judgment, and they do not know of any torture or deliverance promised to them after death.
67 “What does it profit us if our life is preserved but we are cruelly tortured?
68 “For all who are born are entangled in wickedness, and are full of sins and burdened with transgressions.
69 “And if we are not to come into judgement after death, perhaps it would have been better for us.”
70 And he answered me and said, “When the Most High made the world and Aḏam and all who have come from him, He first prepared the judgment and that which pertains to the judgment.
71 “But now, know from your own words, for you have said that the mind grows with us.
72 “For this reason, therefore, those who live on earth shall be tortured, for though they had knowledge, they committed wickedness; and although they received the Commandments, they did not guard them; and though they obtained the Law, they dealt untrustworthily with what they had received.
73 “What then shall they have to say in the judgment, or how shall they answer in the last days?
74 “How long the Most High has been patient with the inhabitants of the world! And not for their sakes, but because of the days that He has ordained.”
75 And I answered and said, “If I have found favour in your eyes, O 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, show this also to your servant: whether after death, as soon as every one of us breathes their last, we shall be kept in rest until those days come when You shall renew the creation, or whether we shall be tortured immediately?
76 And he answered me and said, “I shall show you this also, but do not include yourself with those who have mocked, or number yourself among those who are tortured.
77 “For you have a treasure of work stored up with the Most High, but it shall not be shown to you till the last days.
78 “And concerning death, the teaching is: when the decisive decree goes forth from the Most High, that one shall die, as the spirit leaves the body to return to Him again who gave it, first of all it adores the esteem of the Most High.
79 “If it is one of those who has mocked and has not guarded the Way of the Most High, who has despised His Law and hated those who revere Elohim;
80 such spirits do not enter into dwellings, but shall immediately wander in torture, forever in grief and sorrow in seven ways.
81 “The first way, because they have mocked the Law of the Most High.
82 “The second way, because they cannot make a good repentance so that they now may live.
83 “The third way, they shall see the reward laid up for those who have trusted the Covenants of the Most High.
84 “The fourth way, they shall consider the torture laid up for themselves in the last days.
85 “The fifth way, they shall see how the dwellings of the others are guarded by messengers in deep rest.
86 “The sixth way, they shall see how some of them pass over into torture.
87 “The seventh way, which is greater than all the ways that have been spoken, because they shall utterly waste away in confusion and be consumed with shame, and shall wither with fear at seeing the esteem of the Most High in whose presence they sinned while they were alive, and in whose presence they are to be judged in the last days.
88 “And this is the order for those who have guarded the Ways of the Most High, when they are separated from their mortal body:
89 “During the time that they lived in it, they laboured to serve the Most High, and withstood danger every hour so they might guard the Law of the Lawgiver perfectly.
90 “Therefore this is the teaching concerning them:
91 “Firstly, they shall see with great joy the esteem of He who receives him, for they shall have rest in seven orders.
92 “The first order, because they strove with great effort to overcome the wicked thought that was formed with them, so that it might not lead them astray from ḥai unto death.
93 “The second order, because they see the confusion in which the beings of the unrighteous wander and the punishment that awaits them.
94 “The third order, they see the witness that He who formed them bears concerning them, that throughout their life they guarded the Law with which they were entrusted.
95 “The fourth order, they know the rest that they now enjoy, being gathered into their rooms and guarded by messengers in deep rest, and the esteem waiting for them in the last days.
96 “The fifth order, they rejoice that they have now escaped what is corruptible and shall inherit what is to come; and they also see the difficulty and toil from which they have been delivered, and the spacious freedom that they are to receive and enjoy in immortality.
97 “The sixth order, when it is shown them how their face is to shine like the sun, and how they are to be made like the light of the stars, being incorruptible from then on.
98 “The seventh order, which is greater than all that have been spoken, for they shall rejoice with boldness, and shall be confident without confusion, and shall be glad without fear, for they press forward to see the face of He whom they served in life and from whom they are to receive their reward when esteemed.
99 “This is the order of the beings of the righteous, which from now on is announced; and the previously spoken are the ways of torture that those who would not pay heed shall suffer from now on.”
100 Then I answered and said, “Shall there be time given to the beings after they have been separated from the bodies, to see what you have described to me?”
101 And he said to me, “They shall have freedom for seven days, so that during these seven days they may see that of which you have been told, and afterwards they shall be gathered into their dwellings.”
102 And I answered and said, “If I have found favour in your eyes, show further to me, your servant, whether on the day of judgment the righteous shall be able to intercede for the unrighteous or to entreat the Most High for them –
103 fathers for sons or sons for parents, brothers for brothers, relatives for their relatives or friends for those who are most dear.”
104 And he answered me and said, “Since you have found favour in my eyes, I will show you this also. The day of judgment is certain and displays to all the sign of truth. Just as now a father does not send his son, or a son his father, or a master his servant, or a friend his dearest friend, to be sick or sleep or eat or be healed in his place,
105 so no one shall ever pray for another on that day, neither shall anyone lay a burden on another, for then all shall bear their own righteousness and unrighteousness.”
106 Then I said, “Aḇraham prayed first for the Seḏomites, and Mosheh for the fathers that sinned in the wilderness;
107 and Yahoshua after him for Yisra’ĕl in the time of Aḵan;
108 and Shemu’ĕl and Dawiḏ for the destruction; and Shelomoh for those who would come to the Miqdash;
109 and Ĕliyahu for those who received rain; and for the dead, that he might live;
110 and Ḥizqiyahu for the people in the time of Sanḥĕriḇ; and many for many.
111 “Even so now, seeing corruption has grown, and wickedness increased, and the righteous have prayed for the wicked; why shall it also not be so now?”
112 He answered me, and said, “This present life is not the end where much esteem dwells; therefore they have prayed for the weak.
113 “But the day of judgment shall be the end of this age, and the beginning of the immortality to come, in which corruption is past.
114 “Lack of self control is at an end, whoring is cut off, righteousness growns, and truth springs forth.
115 “Then no man shall be able to save he who is destroyed, nor to oppress he who has overcome.”
116 Then I answered and said, “This is my first and last saying: that it would have been better to not have given the earth to Aḏam; or else, when it was given him, to have restrained him from sinning.
117 “For what profit is there for men here in this present time to live in heaviness, and to look for punishment after death?
118 “O you Aḏam, what have you done? For though it was you that sinned, you have not fallen alone, but all of us who come from you.
119 “For what does it profit us, if there is promised us an immortal time, whereas we have done the works that bring death?
120 “Or that there is an everlasting expectancy promised to us, whereas we being most wicked are made worthless?
121 “Or that there are dwellings of healing and safety laid up for us, whereas we have lived wickedly?
122 “And that the esteem of the Most High is kept to defend those who have led a watchful life, whereas we have walked in the most wicked ways of all?
123 “And that there should be shown a paradise, whose fruit endures forever, where there is safety and healing, since we shall not enter into it,
124 for we have walked in crooked places?
125 “Or that the faces of those who have practiced self-control shall shine above the stars, whereas our faces shall be blacker than darkness?
126 “For while we lived and committed wickedness, we did not consider that we should begin to suffer for it after death.”
127 Then he answered me, and said, “This is the condition of the battle, that man who is born upon the earth shall fight;
128 that, if he is overcome, he shall suffer as you have said; but if he overcomes, he shall receive that which I say.
129 “For this is the life of which Mosheh spoke to the people while he lived, saying, ‘Choose life, that you may live.’
130 “Nevertheless they did not believe him, nor even the nebi’im after him, nor myself who has spoken to them,
131 that there should not be such grief in their destruction, as shall be the joy over those who are persuaded to salvation.”
132 Then I answered, and said, “I know, master, that the Most High is called kind, in that He has kindness upon those who have not yet come into the world,
133 and upon those who also turn to His Law;
134 and that He is patient, and endures those who have sinned, as His creatures;
135 and that He is generous, for He is ready to give where needed;
136 and that He is of great kindness, for He multiplies more and more kindnesses to those who are present, and are past, and also to those who are to come.
137 “For if He did not multiply His kindnesses, the world would not continue with those who inherit therein.
138 “And He pardons; for if He did not do so of his goodness, and those who have committed wickednesses were forgiven them, the ten thousandth part of mankind would not remain living.
139 “And being Judge, if He did not forgive those who are healed by His Word, and blot out the great number of sins,
140 there would likely be very few left in an innumerable crowd!”